Khamzat Chimaev praised by MMA legend Randy Couture ahead of UFC comeback
Welterweight prospect Khamzat Chimaev was praised by MMA legend Randy Couture ahead of his UFC comeback after a year away from the action.
Chimaev returns to the Octagon this fall at UFC 267 in October when he faces off against top-15 ranked welterweight Li Jingliang. For Chimaev, this will be his first fight in over a year after missing the last 12 months of action due to a number of health issues, including getting a bad case of COVID-19. The Swede took the fight game by storm last summer when he made his UFC debut on Fight Island and smashed John Phillips and Rhys McKee within a 10-day period. He then came back a month later and needed just 17 seconds to KO Gerald Meerschaert. That led to the UFC fast-tracking Chimaev up the roster and matching him up against top-five ranked Leon Edwards, but Chimaev got COVID-19 and the fight was canceled.
Now that Chimaev is finally healthy, the UFC has booked him for his return fight against Jingliang. As part of his comeback, Chimaev has been doing some training at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas, Nevada. Speaking to MMA reporter James Lynch, the gym’s owner and founder, MMA legend Randy Couture, praised Chimaev for what he’s been doing in the gym lately and suggested that he will have a successful comeback.
“He looks good. He looks very good in the gym,” Couture said of Chimaev. “To have Dagestanis raving and talking about a guy, that has to get your attention if you’re a fighter and you’re paying any attention to what’s going on in the world of mixed martial arts. There’s a lot of very tough cats coming out of that part of the world, and he’s certainly one of them. He took it by storm last year and I don’t think it’s going to change. I think he’s going to bounce back from COVID-19 just fight and be ready for October
How good do you think Khamzat Chimaev can be in the UFC?
